"All the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and . . . the State should be abolished." —Benjamin Tucker

"You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." —James Madison

"Fat chance." —Sheldon Richman

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America's Counter-Revolution

The Constitution Revisited

From the back cover:

This book challenges the assumption that the Constitution was a landmark in the struggle for liberty. Instead, Sheldon Richman argues, it was the product of a counter-revolution, a setback for the radicalism represented by America’s break with the British empire. Drawing on careful, credible historical scholarship and contemporary political analysis, Richman suggests that this counter-revolution was the work of conservatives who sought a nation of “power, consequence, and grandeur.” America’s Counter-Revolution makes a persuasive case that the Constitution was a victory not for liberty but for the agendas and interests of a militaristic, aristocratic, privilege-seeking ruling class.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

On Monday I flew east to give a lecture titled "Capitalism versus the Free Market," sponsored by the Future of Freedom Foundation and held at George Mason University. I had great time. The audience seemed to appreciate the lecture, and I saw many old friends. I really enjoyed myself.

The lecture dealt with the confusion about the word "capitalism" and the historical reasons why what is known as capitalism has little to do with the free market. You can watch the video here.

5 comments:

Loved the speech, you have convinced that I should never say I support capitalism. Should I start saying "I oppose capitalism", that might cause too much confusion, but i agree with everything you said in the speech. I have come to realize, there isn't an obvious and easily agreed definition of capitalism, and most people say crony capitalism is capitalism, so we better just accept it. In most ways saying people who support free markets means they support capitalism, is in fact trying to change the word of capitalism, and it hasn't caught on to the rest of population. You mentioned that the crony capitalism and non free markets that existed since the start of the United States. Where can I find these regulations and crony capitalism examples? I believe they exist, but I'm not an historian, and so most people don't believe me. Where can I find these examples to prove to them the United States was never a free market?

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